Tamás Fedeles
„in dicta civitate Quinque Ecclesiensi de cetero sit studium generale”
Short History of the Medieval University of Pécs
1„U
rban, bishop, servant of the servants of God for lasting memory. […] We have decided and also ordained that there be a studium generale in the aforesaid city of Pécs, that it should forever excel in the faculty of civil and canon law and in any other permitted faculty except theology”,2 says the papal bull of 1 September, 1367. The 650th anniversary of the foundation of the first Hun-garian university rightly fills the citizens of Pécs and the university with pride;however, this occasion has great significance beyond Pécs, since this foun-dation six and a half centuries ago is still an outstanding event of Hungari-an education, culture Hungari-and history. The most importHungari-ant episodes of the rather limited history of the medieval university of Pécs are being introduced below, according to the jubilee.
Episcopal see, capitular school, locus credibilis
Of the medieval Hungarian diocesan centres Pécs is the only one where the exact date of the foundation is known. The interpolated and multiple times copied text of the original charter survived in a diploma of 1404,3 according to which the ceremonial event took place in the castle of Győr on 23 August,
1 The study was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship (BO/00234/16/2) and by the Kuno Klebelsberg Scholarship. The author is an associate professor at the University of Pécs, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of History, and a senior research fellow in the HAS-PPCU Vilmos Fraknói Vatican Historical Research Group.
2 Gabriel, Asztrik L.: The Mediaeval Universities of Pécs and Pozsony, Frankfurt am Main, 1969, pp. 18.
3 Diplomata Hungariae antiquissima edendo operi praefuit Georgius Györffy, vol I. 1000–
1131. Budapest, 1992, pp. 58.
1009.4 The early Christian sacred buildings of the northern cemetery of Sopi-anae that still survived at the time of the Hungarian kingdom’s establishment played a fundamental role in the selection of the episcopal see. According to the latest research, some of them, like the cella trichora, were still used for liturgical purposes in the Carolingian era.5 As a result of the spontaneous de-velopment of independent settlements, by the middle of the 13th century the area lying south-southeast to the episcopal centre became a single episcopal civitas, which – by the middle of the next century – grew into an ecclesiastical, cultural, economic centre on a nationwide scale.6
The first bishop of Pécs, the Italian Bonipert (1009–1036) from the begin-ning paid great attention to the education of future priests, which was essential to the Christianization of the diocese. To this end, he established a cathedral school, where Latin and the Catholic dogmas (catechism) were taught. “Our son, Hilduin, your follower who conveys your love towards us, reported that you would like to have one of our Priscianus volumes: we are willingly sending one by him.”7 The above lines, written in reply to Bonipert by Fulbert, the bishop of Chartres (1007–1028), who around 1020 sent to Pécs the well-known textbook of Latin grammar, the Institutiones grammaticae by Priscianus, who worked in Constantinople in the 6th century.8 The school functioned under the supervision of the cathedral chapter, led by the lector; while the cantor as well as the sub-lector played an important role in the education. As the institution was closely
4 On the circumstances of the foundation and its broader Hungarian and European connec-tion, see: Koszta, László: Pécs története a püspökség alapításától (1009) a 14. század kö-zepéig. [The History of Pécs from the Foundation of the Bishopric (1009) to the Middle of the 14th Century.], in: Fedeles, Tamás – Sarbak, Gábor – Sümegi, József (eds.): A Pécsi Egyházmegye története, vol. I. A középkor századai (1009–1543). [History of the Diocese of Pécs. vol. I. Centuries of the Middle Ages (1009–1543)] Pécs, 2009, pp. 13–42.
5 See, Tóth, Zsolt: Sopianae késő római kori ókeresztény temetője és az első középkori szé-kesegyház [Sopiane’s Early Christian Cemetery from the Late Roman Age and the First Me-dieval Cathedral], in: Heidl, György – Raffay, Endre – Tüskés, Anna (eds.), Echo simul una et quina. Tanulmányok a pécsi székesegyházról, [Echo simul una et quina. Studies on the Cathedral of Pécs] Pécs, 2016, pp. 43–74.
6 On the development of the region, see Fedeles, Tamás: „Eztán Pécs tűnik szemünkbe”. A város középkori históriája [„This is where Pécs appears in our eyes.” The Medieval History of the City] Pécs 2011; Koszta, László: A püspökség alapításától (1009) a 14. század közepéig [The History of Pécs from the Foundation of the Bishopric (1009) to the Middle of the 14th Century.], in: Vonyó, József – Font, Márta (eds.), Pécs története II. A püspökség alapításá-tól a török hódításig [History of Pécs II. From the Foundation of the Bishopric to the Turkish Conquest] Pécs, 2015, pp. 21–172.
7 Kristó, Gyula (ed.), Az államalapítás korának írott forrásai, (Szegedi Középkortörténeti Könyvtár, 15.) [Written Sources of the Era of the Founding of the State] Szeged, 1999, pp.
103–104.
8 Nemerkényi, Előd: Latin Classics in Medieval Hunagry eleventh Century, Debrecen–Buda-pest, 2004, pp- 13–30.
related to the chapter, it was also called a capitular school. After acquiring basic knowledge, the seven liberal arts (septem artes liberales) were taught. The pupils learnt Latin grammar and rhetoric; then the talented ones went on obtaining knowledge of arithmetic, geometry and music. Within the subject of rhetoric, ars dictandi, which included the mastery of drafting a letter or a charter, consti-tuted a very important part of the curriculum.9 It was obviously necessary for the education to have the scriporium for the copying of basic works, as well as for the library that kept the manuscripts and codices. Furthermore, the capitu-lar library played an important role in later university education as well.
Teaching ars dictandi in medieval Hungary was essential, since the depos-itories of the legal written records were primarily the loca credibilia, loca au-thentica. The demand for a written civil law brought about the establishment of the ‘places of authentication’, since medieval Hungarian society that was based on oral procedures was more and more in need of recording legal acts (trade, pawning, testament, etc.). This task was conducted by the ecclesiastical institutions, the cathedral and collegiate chapters and certain convents. The development and operation of the ‘places of authentication’ also required that the members of the chapters and monasteries were expert at Hungarian com-mon law. The formularies – which became necessary after the charters were drafted in bulk – served as textbooks for the pupils of the capitular school.
Thus, the basic forms of various types of charters only needed to be adjusted to the given case. This way the preparation of certain documents became sig-nificantly faster. There are several formularies known from the Middle Ages, and one of them is related to the cathedral chapter of Pécs.10 The prebendal body of the cathedral of Pécs issued authentic charters from 1214, and later became the most prominent locus credibilis of southern Transdanubia.11 The chancery of the capitular locus credibilis obviously was in close communica-tion with the school, since both institucommunica-tions were directed by the lector,
fur-9 Békefi, Remig: A káptalani iskolák története Magyarországon 1540-ig [The History of Chapter Schools in Hungary until 1540], Budapest, 1910, pp. 246–274; Mészáros, István: A katolikus iskola ezeréves története Magyarországon [The Millennial History of the Catholic School in Hungary] Budapest, 2000, pp. 1–83.
10 On the locus credibilis, see Eckhart, Franz: Die glaubwürdigen Orte Ungarns im Mittelal-ter, in: Mitteilungen des Institituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Ergänzungs-band 9, Heft 2, Innsbruck, 1914, pp. 395–558.
11 Koszta, László: A pécsi székeskáptalan hiteleshelyi tevékenysége (1214–1353), (Tanulmá-nyok Pécs történetéből 4.) [The Authentication Activity of the Cathedral Chapter of Pécs (1214–1353)] Pécs, 1998, Fedeles, Tamás: A pécsi székeskáptalan hiteleshelyi vonzáskörzete (1354–1526) [The “Place of Authentication” Catchment Area of the Cathedral Chapter of Pécs (1354–1526)], in: Weisz, Boglárka (eds.), Középkortörténeti Tanulmányok. A III. Medieviszti-kai PhD-konferencia (Szeged, 2003. május 8–9.) előadásai [Medieval History Studies. The 3rd Medieval Studies PhD-Conference] Szeged, 2003, pp. 9–22.
thermore, the notaries who put down the text of the charters had presumably studied in the capitular school. The effect of both the cathedral chapter and the capitular school was felt even farther away from the centre of the episcopacy.
This is shown by the fact that the chapter and the school were also visited by people from remote counties. The office of the lector and the capitular school of Pozsega were organized on the model of the lector of Pécs’s dignity in the 1290s. In all probability, besides the location of the two towns, the prestige and high standard of the capitular school of Pécs were behind these measures.12
In conclusion, in the middle of the 14th century Pécs was one of the Hun-garian centres of culture, education and literacy, which could provide a proper background to the organization of higher education. It would only be appro-priate to ask why the foundation of a university did not take place in Eszter-gom, Várad, Eger, Gyulafehérvár or in other episcopal-archiepiscopal centre.
Why was the first university of the Hungarian Kingdom established in the set-tlement of Pécs?
„Vylhelmus Dei et Apostolica gratia episcopus Quinqueecclesiensis”13
The foundation of the medieval university of Pécs fit into the series of uni-versity foundations in Eastern-Central Europe. After Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1346–1378) called the University of Prague (1348) into life, there was a wave of foundations when the studium generale of Krakow (1364), Vi-enna (1365) and Pécs were established almost at the same time.14 However, there was a striking difference between the above mentioned institutions and the one in Pécs regarding the choice of site. While Prague gave home to the Luxembourgs, Krakow for the Piasts and Vienna for the Habsburgs, the south-ern Transdanubian Pécs existed “only” as a developed episcopal see, since the residency of the reigning Anjou dynasty was in Visegrád.15
12 Koszta, László: Írásbeliség és egyházszervezet [Literacy and Church Organization] (Capi-tulum III.) Szeged, 2007, pp. 120.
13 National Archive of Hungary, Charters no. 5573.
14 Székely György: A pécsi és óbudai egyetem alapítása a közép-európai egyetemek létesíté-sének összefüggésében. [The Foundation of the University of Pécs and Óbuda in Relation to the Foundation of the Central-European Universities], in: A Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 1967, pp. 155–174; Vetulani, Adam: A pécsi egyetem, valamint a krakkói és bécsi testvéregyetemek alapításának körülményei [The Circumstances of Foundation of the University of Pécs and its Sister Universities in Kraków and Vienna], in: Csizmadia, Andor (ed.), Jubileumi tanulmányok a pécsi egyetem történetéből [Jubilee Studies from the History of the University of Pécs] Pécs, 1967, pp. 21–50.
15 Rüegg, Walter (ed.), On the medieval universities in a comprehensive work: Geschichte der
While selecting the home of the university, many other possible alterna-tives occurred in the earlier historiography. According to an assumption, Pécs was chosen because the majority of the Hungarian pupils who enrolled at a foreign university were from the dioceses of Pécs and Zagreb; consequently, the continuous supply of students would have been guaranteed for the newly established institution.16 This idea was further strengthened by the contempo-rary demographic situation, namely that southern Transdanubia belonged to the densely populated regions of the country, especially the territory of the di-ocese of Pécs.17 Many believe that the situation of the town was favourable for geopolitical reasons, which was advantageous especially in the course of the south-southwestern expansive politics of Louis I (1342–1382) in the second half of the Anjou era.18 However, it is worth mentioning that according to the contemporary circumstances of transport and geography, Zagreb’s location would have been more suitable for a university. Nevertheless, many research-ers assumed that the foundation of the univresearch-ersity and the selection of its place could be motivated by the fight against the spreading Balkan heresy of the Bogumils and the Patarens.19 However, the latter idea is unfounded, consid-ering the ban of establishing a faculty of theology is expressis verbis written in the deed of foundation.20 The historian Astrik Gabriel, an expert of university history, rightly had misgivings about this: “How can a school without a Faculty of Theology serve such a purpose, that of training missionaries and fighting her-esies?”21 To take everything into consideration, however, I am of the opinion that Vilmos, the bishop of Pécs (1361–1374) had the notion of establishing
Universität in Europa. Band I. Mittelalter, München, 1993. On Visegrád, see Mészáros, Or-solya: A késő középkori Visegrád város története és helyrajza [The History and Topography of the Late Medieval Town of Visegrád] Visegrád, 2009.
16 Gabriel, The Mediaeval Universities (as note 2) pp. 17.
17 Csizmadia, Andor: A pécsi egyetem a középkorban [The Medieval University of Pécs], (Studia Iuridica Auctoritate Universitatis Pécs Publicata 40.) Pécs, 1965, pp. 10.
18 Székely, A pécsi és óbudai egyetem (as note 14) pp. 159; Gabriel, The Mediaeval Uni-versities (as note 2) pp. 15; Klaniczay, Tibor: Megoldott és megoldatlan kérdések az első magyar egyetem körül [Solved and Unsolved Issues Around the First Hungarian University], in: Irodalomtörténeti Közlemények 78, 1974, pp. 162; Petrovics, István: A középkori pécsi egyetem és alapítója [The Medieval University of Pécs and its Founder], in: Aetas, 20, 2005, 4. pp. 30.
19 E.g. Csizmadia:, A pécsi egyetem (as note 17) pp. 9; Székely, A pécsi és óbudai egyetem (as note 14) pp. 162.
20 Szögi, László (ed.), „quam alia qualibet licita, praeterquam in Theologia” – Régi magyar egyetemek emlékezete. Válogatott dokumentumok a magyarországi felsőoktatás történeté-hez 1367–1777 [„quam alia qualibet licita, praeterquam in Theologia” – Memory of Old Hungarian Universities. Selected Documents to the History of Higher Education in Hunga-ry 1367–1777], Budapest, 1995, pp. 55.
21 Gabriel, The Mediaeval Universities (as note 2) pp. 13–14.
the studium generale, therefore a thorough examination of the bishop and the direct background of the foundation should be made.
There is rather little information on the origin of Wilhem von Koppenbach.
The family came from the territory of Saarland, Bliesgau; the town which gave the family’s name, Koppenbach is located in Upper-Bavaria, between Ingol-stadt and Munich. János, the first known member of the impoverished noble family serving the Counts of Zweibrücken, appears in the sources from 1294.22 Vilmos presumably was born in the first decade of the 14th century.23 There is no information on his youth, neither on his education. He must have had knowledge of canon law considering his later diplomatic activity and his role in the university foundation; therefore he could have graduated from a university.
Regarding his stay in Hungary, we should touch upon the power constel-lation of his closer motherland. The County of Zweibrücken itself belonged to the orbit of the Luxemburg dynasty from 1335, when Count Walram en-tered the service of the later Emperor Charles IV. The territory of the counts belonged to the diocese of Speyer which was also ruled by a Luxemburg: the uncle of Charles, Balduin, the archbishop of Trier and imperial prince-elector.
In these circumstances, Vilmos, who chose an ecclesiastical career, must have been recommended to Charles IV by Balduin, who employed him as a chap-lain. He might have contacted Louis I in the spring of 1353, when the Hungar-ian and the German monarchs met in Buda to celebrate their new nuptials and to establish dynastical relations through their children to be born. However, the cleric of German origin and the Hungarian monarch could have known each other from before, as Louis the Great’s first wife, Margit (†1349) was the daughter of Charles from his first marriage.24
Vilmos’s first church benefice, the parish of Bergzabern (1353) was under the patronage of the counts of Zweibrücken. By royal support, in May 1353, as the chaplain of the Hungarian monarch he unsuccessfully applied for the prebendal benefice of Speyer. Nevertheless, in April 1358 his efforts were successful: he became the beneficiary of the cathedral chapter of Speyer.25 In a request sent to
22 Zimmermann, Harald: Wilhelm von Koppenbach, der Gründer der Universität Fünf-kirchen, in: Font, Márta – Szögi, László (eds.), Die ungarische Universitätsbildung und Europa, Pécs, 2001, pp. 34; Zimmermann, Harald: Der fünfkirchner Bischof Wilhelm von Koppenbach und die siebenbürger Sachsen. Einige Überlegungen, in: Nazare, Daniel – Po-povici, Ruxandra – Bogdan, Florin (eds.), In honorem Gernot Nussbächer, Braşov, 2004, pp. 253.
23 Harald Zimmermann puts the date of birth probable around 1313, which is also acceptable.
Cf. Zimmermann, Wilhelm von Koppenbach (as note 22) pp. 35.
24 Fedeles, Tamás: Studium Generale Quinqueecclesiense, in: A Pécsi Egyházmegye története [History of the Diocese of Pécs] vol. I, pp. 109.
25 Fouquet, Gerhard: Das Speyerer Domkapitel im späten Mittelalter (ca. 1350–1540).
Adeli-the Holy See in May 1357, he was recorded as Adeli-the secretary and beloved advi-sor (secretarius et predilectus consiliarius) of Louis I, and consequently, he must have already lived in the Hungarian Kingdom.26 Soon he was granted Hungar-ian church benefices. In April 1358 he was the provost of Csázma, then after an exchange of benefices he became the head of the cathedral chapter of Eger.
The dignity of the great-provost of Eger belonged to the richest Hungarian ca-pitular benefices, with which the monarch rewarded Vilmos’s service first and foremost. Namely, from October 1358 the cleric served the monarch as a comes capellae regiae (chapel ispán) and a secret chancellor (secretarius cancellarius).27 The episcopate of Pécs meant the culmination of his church career, for which he was selected by the monarch after the death of Miklós Neszmélyi.28 Finally, the Holy See confirmed his nomination on 18 January 1361.29
From the autumn of 1358 until his death he worked as a royal chapel ispán and a secret chancellor. In the Anjou era up until the death of Vilmos, the royal chapel – naturally besides the administration of the liturgical duties – also functioned as the court’s central locus credibilis, furthermore it was the base of the monarch’s diplomatic body. Due to the latter function, at the time in the capella regia there were primarily such clerics who had knowledge of canon law, and this occurrence was closely connected with the foundation of the first university of Hungary, the studium generale of Pécs.30 In the background of the foundation, above all, was a demand made on the members of the royal
diplo-ge Freundschaft, fürstliche Patronadiplo-ge und päpstliche Klientel, Bde I–II, Mainz, 1987, (Quel-len und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte Bd. 57.) II, pp. 408, no. 76.
26 Bossányi, Árpád: Regesta Supplicationum. (A pápai kérvénykönyvek magyar vonatkozású adatai) 1342–1394 [Regesta Supplicationum. (Hungarian-Related Data of the Papal Request Books) 1342–1394], I–II, Budapest 1916–1918, II, no. 92; Zimmermann, Wilhelm von Koppenbach (as note 22) pp. 35.
27 Fedeles, Tamás – Koszta, László: Pécs (Fünfkirchen). Das Bistum und die Bischofsstadt im Mittelalter, Wien, 2011, (Publikationen der Ungarischen Geschichtsforschung in Wien, Bd. II.) pp. 103–104.
28 On 25 July 1360 he was mentioned in a charter as “Wilhelmus prepositus Erlacensis comes capelle […] et postulatus episcopus Quinqueecclesiensis”. Koller, Josephus: Historia epis-copatus Quinqueecclesiarum, vol. I–VII, Posonii, Pesthini, 1782–1812, III, pp. 84.
29 Gulik, Guilelmus, Van – Eubel, Conradus – Gauchat, Patricius – Schmitz-Kallen-berg, Ludovicus– Ritzler, Remigius– Sefrin, Priminus (eds.), Hierarchia Catholica medii et recentioris aevi, sive Summorum Pontificum, S.R.E. Cardinalium, ecclesiarum Antistitum series I–VIII, Monasterii–Patavii, 1913–1978, vol. I, pp. 431.
30 Bónis, György: A capella regia és a pécsi egyetemalapítás [The Capella Regia and the Foun-dation of the University of Pécs], in: Csizmadia, Andor (ed.), A 600 éves jogi felsőoktatás történetéből 1367–1967. A pécsi egyetemtörténeti konferencia anyagából [From the History of 600 Years of Legal Higher Education 1367–1967. From the Documents of the University History Conference in Pécs], (Studia Iuridica Auctoritate Universitatis Pécs Publicata 60.) Pécs, 1968, pp. 26; Bónis, György: A jogtudó értelmiség a Mohács előtti Magyarországon [Legally Qualified Intellectuals in Hungary before Mohács] Budapest, 1971, pp. 42.
macy, namely the mastery of canon law essential for negotiations – specifically with the Holy See. As the majority of the monarch’s diplomats were from the clerics of the royal chapel, the royal chaplains were obliged to know the law properly. From the beginning of Louis the Great’s reign it is demonstrable that
macy, namely the mastery of canon law essential for negotiations – specifically with the Holy See. As the majority of the monarch’s diplomats were from the clerics of the royal chapel, the royal chaplains were obliged to know the law properly. From the beginning of Louis the Great’s reign it is demonstrable that